I Can't Hear You (Chekov x Reader)
by LunaRS
Summary: You lost your hearing ten years ago in an accident and you are mysteriously beamed up aboard the Enterprise. Once you've set your sights on a certain Russian ensign...is it love at first sight? Please R&R!
1. The Enterprise

Everything was calm and silent; you didn't hear a thing and frankly, you didn't care; you liked it that way, now. It made you peaceful; it made you feel safe.

You had been deaf for ten years now; the doctors said it had something to do with an electrical fire. You remembered your parents panicking and something long and black falling towards you…next thing you knew, there was an excruciating painful electric shock in your body and you haven't heard a single sound since. Every doctor and specialist who'd seen you throughout the next ten years of your life could not do anything to give you your hearing back; you didn't have the money to see anyone more professional, either.

The present day, you sat at your desk in your apartment, leisurely scribbling words and pictures down on a piece of paper humming to yourself, just to feel the vibrations of our voice in your chest.

You lived alone, an average student at Starfleet Academy; your parents had died in the electrical fire and you had no next of kin. You studied both engineering and nursing in the Academy, waiting with bated breath for the day that you would actually get assigned to a ship and have a job doing what you love and most important: you'd finally be able to touch the stars and hear their silent twinkling with your silenced ears.

The holidays were coming up soon and finals week was hell, as usual, for many people but not you, strangely enough.

You had, this year, gotten ahead in your studies and were vastly prepared for every test you had coming up; you'd already written your essays and finished all your projects. All this warranted hateful glares in your general direction and stressed words you refused to try and read on their lips—you could read lips quite well, actually—you mainly ignored these people and hardly ever let them get to you; it wasn't _your_ fault they stayed up partying instead of studying.

No one quite understood you though, try as you might, you couldn't make yourself known to others; it wasn't that you didn't know sign-language, it was that no one else did and for that you'd get confused stares; no one waited around long enough for you to write down your question or a sentence as they walked away disinterestedly, figuring that you weren't worth the effort because you were different.

You were not bitter, however. You never held it against them or let yourself fall into self-pity because you never saw the point in it. You, instead, found little things in your life to make the sunshine in your face in the morning and the beams of moonlight at night mean something; your attitude was always pleasant, even in private, and you strained to see everything good in the world and just look at the beauty of it all. You were deaf and mute, not blind.

You worked at the local home for the elderly as a janitor, since you were unable to assist people verbally and listen. But the elders there _loved_ and _adored_ you and would chat with you when they could; they were, so far, the only kind souls you had the pleasure of meeting, other than the rest of the staff there. They didn't care if you couldn't reply with words and they always, _always_, thanked you for listening.

You looked up from your scribbles and eyed your clock. It was time to get to work. You smiled, even though you didn't feel particularly happy.

You stood and grabbed your bag, making sure everything you needed was there and left the apartment, closing the door behind you.

Suddenly you felt your senses grow hazy and fuzzy all over.

A golden-white light surrounded you and you could almost feel every single molecule in you break down; it didn't hurt but it felt very strange.

You breathing quickened and you dropped your bag before everything in front of you was engulfed by the light.

You blinked and everything around you was different, filled with uniformed people staring at you one by one with startled expressions. Two men looked familiar to you. You identified them quickly in your mind, remembering their famous faces from the news and even current history.

'_Captain Kirk? Mr. Spock?'_ you thought incredulously.

One young man, in a yellow shirt, was staring at you with a particularly surprised very blue-eyed gaze; he looked…excited.

The sight of his face, blue eyes, and golden-brown curls made you blush against your will.

You watched his mouth closely as his lips began to move.

You could tell he had an accent.

"Weel…Heello."


	2. Talking

You looked about, dazed and confused. You were also feeling a bit dizzy.

You felt a buzzing in your feet and it took you a moment to realize that it was the engines. You were in a ship; more importantly, you knew _which_ ship you were standing awkwardly in: The glorious and beautiful Enterprise, commanded by some of Starfleet's finest.

Captain James Tiberius Kirk was staring straight at you from his seat on the bridge, along with the inquisitive gaze of Mr. Spock.

But who was the young man who had been the first to greet you?

Captain Kirk's lips began to move and your attention immediately focused on him.

"…kov, do you know her?" you read. What was that first word? You'd missed it.

He looked at the young man and so did you.

"Eeeeh…no, Keptin." He replied thoughtfully, looking you up and down bashfully.

You wondered what his accent was; it was harder to read his lips.

"…are you?" you read Kirk, missing a bit before you looked up at him.

Shakily, you began to sign words with your fingers. Kirk stared at you, confused.

You looked around to see if anyone could understand. Finally your eyes rested on Mr. Spock.

"Ensign Chekov, please call Uhura to the bridge." Spock worded, studying you as he walked towards you.

When the Vulcan was standing in front of you, you felt your heart beat faster in anxiousness.

He seemed to notice that you were staring intently at his lips.

"Can you understand what I am saying?" he worded carefully, tilting his head a bit to inform you that his sentence was a question. You nodded, feeling tears come to your eyes; you refused to let them fall.

"Fascinating." You caught him mumbling to himself.

"Can you _hear_ me?" he mouthed, putting careful emphasis on the word "hear."

You shook your head. You felt vibrations, different than those of the ship's engines, and looked up to see a dark skinned woman walking towards you, wearing a short red dress and boots; her hair was tied back in a ponytail.

Spock got your attention again and began to speak.

"This is Lieutenant Uhura," he gestured towards the woman.

"Can you understand Sign Language?" he asked Uhura.

"Yes." The woman said with a nod.

Spock turned to look at Captain Kirk; you watched the Vulcan's throat and mouth and saw that saying something but you couldn't read him from that angle.

Since you hadn't talked efficiently for ten years, you thought less in words than you did in pictures, yet because you had never experienced anything like this before, your mind was overwhelmed and you didn't quite know how to handle the situation. With a long sweep of your gaze, you found that the crew was no longer paying attention to you, except for the young man with the golden-brown curls who only pretended to be working.

You felt someone's hand on your shoulder and you jumped, surprised as you were pulled from your thoughts. Captain Kirk was standing before you.

"Who are you?" he asked, the movement of his mouth pulling your gaze from his eyes.

"_(Y/N)." _you signed, watching Uhura translate for you to the Captain.

"How'd you get on the ship?" he asked, looking baffled and slightly amused; was he…flirting with you?

You didn't have an answer for him. After a long thoughtful moment, you simply relayed what you remembered, hoping that he'd believe you.

"Well, we can't put her back…we're too far from Earth…" Kirk said thoughtfully.

"Chekov, take…" that was all you could read as he turned away from you and looked at the young man in the yellow shirt with the golden-brown curls.

'_Oh, his name is Chekov…'_ you thought, fitting the image of his name to his adorable face so that you would not forget.

Chekov stood, mouthing "yes, Keptin" and walked up to you, looking happy and excited. He gestured for you to follow him. You did, looking around wildly to take everything in. He led you through a couple hallways, some that opened to a huge shaft full of people and bridges and walkways, his mouth moving, but because of the angle you couldn't quite understand him; you were too bashful to lean forward and get a better look at his mouth to read his lips. He stood a few inches above you; you felt comfortable around him, for some reason.

You marveled at the size of the ship and its crew; every bright light, the warm air, the buzzing of the engines below your feet gave you chills of excitement. The two of you stopped in front of a door where many blue shirted people were walking in and out and Chekov looked at you, a bit of disappointment in his face. You wondered what was wrong.

"Why deeden't yoo answer me? Deed I talk too much?" he spoke as you read him. You shook your head, flustered.

"D-Def." you said out loud, feeling the vibrations of your voice in your throat and chest; you hoped you were saying it right.

Chekov's face went completely red in a blush.

"O-Oh! I deed not know!" he said, obviously embarrassed. You gave him a smile and the universal "okay" sign. You motioned that you could read lips.

"Oh." He replied with the most adorable smile you had ever seen.

"Theez eez ze medeecal bay. Doctor Bonez weel need to check yoo." He pointed at the door you stood before. You nodded and smiled in thanks, suddenly aware of another presence behind you. You turned to see a man in a blue shirt with a furrowed brow, staring down at you and giving Chekov an almost friendly glare.

"I am needed at ze bridge." Chekov informed you. He looked down and blushed again before he said "yoo're cute' and scurried off back to the bridge. You blushed and turned to look at the man who now looked amused.

"You must be (Y/N). I'm Doctor McCoy." He said, noticing the way you stared at his mouth as well.

"Call me Bones." He smiled kindly.


	3. Date

Doctor McCoy, or Bones, ran a couple of tests on you, mainly to see if you were healthy, and escorted you personally to the room you would be staying in.

Bones, although intimidating, was a very kind hearted man, just a bit rough around the edges.

You were still quite flustered by what young Chekov had said; you were deeply flattered that he had told you he thought you were cute.

You made your way to the bed in the corner of the room and gently plopped yourself down onto it. You smiled in spite of your confusion and hummed to yourself, the tremor of your voice in your body calming you; you hummed when you were excited.

You were on a ship, _the Enterprise_! You were surrounded by professionals. Then there was Chekov; oh, just thinking about him made you hum harder and caused your heart to skip a beat.

You slipped your shoes off and laid down, exhausted. You slowly began to drift off, lulled by the thrum and trembling of the engines below and the silence within you.

It had been two weeks since your mysterious appearance on the Enterprise and you now had another job: assistant to the head of engineering, Montgomery Scott, "Scotty" as everyone called him, and you were happy. The work was hard, and a bit stressful, especially when Scotty got angry at Keenser for always climbing things (and that happened a _lot_.)

But, you enjoyed your work; you also appreciated how Scotty never treated you like you were different from anyone else because of your disability; he was quite good at reading your fingers too.

All this work left you hardly any time to make any attempts to interact with a certain ensign on the bridge…sure, you'd see him sometimes but you hadn't worked up the courage to actually sit by him and attempt conversation.

"Ey, Lassie," Scotty patted your shoulder to get your attention. You watched him intently.

"Go tell those bloody morons to shut off the cooling vents in the loading dock before they freeze the damn doors shut!" he spewed. You nodded and struggled to hold in a smile; you didn't quite know why but the Scotsman amused you and made you laugh.

"And wipe that smiled off your pretty little face while you're at it." Scotty added, turning you and sending you on your way with a smile in his eyes.

Another week passed, full of work and visits with Bones up in the Medical Bay; he'd told you that you could come by if you ever needed anything or even just wanted to talk. You took him up on his offer quite frequently, when Scotty wasn't available. You'd also talked with Captain Kirk a few times when you were on the bridge looking for McCoy or Mr. Scott; doctor McCoy always shooed him away from you, telling him to stop flirting.

"I swear, Jim, you take one look at a gal and go right in fer the kill! Give 'er some room ta breath for God's sake!" Bones had said once before, making you smile.

Today was one such day where you sat in doctor Bones' office, since Mr. Scott was too busy yelling at some poor "bloody halfwits" who had failed to do the engineer's bidding.

"Hey, kid." Bones walked into his office to greet you, his lips pursed and gaze hard.

You waved and signed: _"Are you feeling okay?"_

"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry 'bout me. We're only floating around in a damn metal box in space." Bones worded.

"_You don't like space?" _you asked with your hands, a bit confused.

"Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence." Bones said, shaking his head.

"_Then, why did you join Starfleet?" _you signed, smiling in amusement.

"I got no other place to go. Dammit, _someone's_ gotta look after Jim, before he kills himself…that pointy-eared bastard needs some watching too." He explained in his own gruff manner. You laughed out loud.

"Now, don't pay any mind to me. What's goin' on in that head of yours?" he changed the subject, waiting until you were paying attention.

You blushed and let your (E/C) eyes wander nervously. With images of the blue-eyed boy coursing through your ever thoughtful mind, you relayed to the good doctor what you thought and how you felt about Chekov, in the best way you could.

Bones watched your fingers closely, a thoughtful look on his face.

"_I do not know if he would like a girl like me." _You signed when you were finished.

"You don't got to be able to hear for someone to like ya," Bones began, getting stern.

"Chekov's a good kid, too. He _already_ likes ya; hell, he's been starin' at you for weeks, whenever he's got the chance."

Your eyes widened and your cheeks flushed again. You hadn't noticed, all this time.

Just then the vibrations of the door opening caught yours and Bones' attentions and the both of you turned to see a very timid Chekov walking in. you almost couldn't breathe.

"Heello," he greeted you with a nervous and oddly determined grin.

"(Y/N), w-woold yoo like to go to deener weeth me tomorrow?" he asked, his face going red. Bones look at you, his lips pursed in a smile.

You could hardly believe your eyes. You looked at Chekov and smiled and nodded.

His grin widened and he looked relieved. He exclaimed something that you couldn't understand but you didn't care; he had just made you one of the happiest people in the world.

"What'd I tell ya?" Bones mouthed silently to you.

The next day you worked nervously; excited as you were for your date with Chekov, it _was_ your _first_ date.

Chekov had also personally delivered a couple of messages to Mr. Scott; you caught a few glances your way each time.

"What do we have these bloody communicators for if that wee ensign keeps wasting time I don't have?!" Scotty burst at you; you could almost feel the tremor of his voice.

"And I know he's smitten with you, Lassie." He added, making you turn a light shade of red.

"_Sorry."_ You signed, embarrassed. Scotty's expression changed and he looked gentler.

"Don't be, I was just let off a wee bit of steam. Now, ye should get back ta—you bloody gremlin! Git down from there!" Scotty ran off and you couldn't read him anymore.

You got back to work, beyond excited.

In Bones' office, the place agreed upon to meet with Chekov, you were beside yourself with nerves.

You were swinging your legs anxiously, sitting on Bones' desk; you were wearing a red jumper and black boots. You twirled a strand of your (H/C) hair.

You were so consumed in your thoughts that you didn't notice the vibrations of the door sliding open.

Unknown to you, Chekov walked in and timidly set a hand on your shoulder to get your attention.

You gasped and looked up to see a very nervous ensign.

"Eehhh…heello, (Y/N)." He smiled.

When the two of you were seated in the dining room of the ship's restaurant, conversation seemed easier than you both had thought it would be. Thought you missed a word here and the end of a sentence there, you were focused and could understand him.

"_My name is Pavel Andreivich Chekov."_ He signed, surprising you.

"_My name is (Your full name)."_ you replied with a smile.

"Uhura hez been teeching me!" Chekov said out loud, excited at your reaction.

"I don't know veery mooch, though." He admitted.

"_I can teach you."_ You gestured, spelling each word out so that Chekov would understand.

The both of you worked at signing a bit until it calmed into just talking. You received your food but most of the time you were too busy talking to eat; it was so easy to talk to him; there wasn't a dull moment, although there were thoughtful pauses in the conversations. You were content, surrounded by the smells of the restaurant, staring at the young man who spoke enthusiastically about his family and his homeland, Russia. Little did you know, there was a group of curious eyes watching the two of you intently and the people that those eyes belonged to smiled and giggled, overjoyed that their young ensign had finally found someone.

"How deed yoo looz yoo're heering?" he asked cautiously after an hour of eating and conversing.

"_An electrical fire. My parents died then." _You motioned thoughtfully.

"I em sorry to heer thet." He said, looking sad for you; he did not, however, pity you and that made all the difference. You smiled and signed that it was okay.

You learned that he was "sewenteen" when he was assigned to the Enterprise and he was now eighteen, the same age as you. You watched and wondered, for the first time in a long while, what his voice sounded like.

But you were content to watch his lips speed away, forming words carefully for you; to watch his throat and chin and imagine the vibrations of his voice.

"Eet eez getting late," Chekov worded.

You noticed that every other person in the restaurant was gone and that only you and Pavel were left in the dining room. You nodded and blushed when he placed a hand on yours. He leaned close.

"Ken I…Mey I keess yoo?" he whispered; his breath smelled sweet and its vacillation on your skin made you feel tingly all over.

Slowly, you raised your free hand to his face and signed "yes" on his cheek in an attempt to, in your own way, whisper a reply.

You leaned towards him across the table and he did the same until your lips touched.

It was a very strange sensation, warm, soft, and gentle. You blushed deeper and closed your eyes. After a moment, the kiss ended, close breaths exchanged, and Chekov stared at you with a glow and a boyish grin. Without a word, the two of you stood, unaware that the group of curious gazes still watched and the people the belonged to were cheering quietly for the Russian boy, and Chekov escorted you to your room, where he placed a gentlemanly kiss on your hand before smiling, giving a little bow, and almost gliding towards his own room.

You were left in front of your room, a smile plastered on your face as your fingers traced the kiss on your lips; the blossoming scarlet on your cheeks glowed as it tickled the rosy eaves of your bewildered soul.


	4. Sound

Life was certainly wonderful. Since your first date with Chekov, you two dined together every night you could manage to. Bones seemed proud of Pavel for finally finding someone and he was also protective of you, making the comment every so often that if Pavel ever hurt you, he "might have to accidentally send him into a cardiac arrest."

Chekov was bashful around you, still, but you were comfortable with him; he didn't mind if there was no talking sometimes. He liked to gift you with roses every once in a while; you never _could _figure out where he got them.

Whenever you were on the bridge, he'd smile and wave; the crew didn't mind at all. It had been two months on the Enterprise and Captain Kirk had explored two uncharted planets already, always ready and anxious for the next one.

Every moment of every day spent floating in space was worth something to you; it was worth more than all your years on Earth, that world where no one knew you existed and no one cared.

Chekov had been suspiciously secretive for the two weeks; you wanted so badly for him to tell you what he was doing but you had faith that whatever it was, it wasn't devious.

You were busy at work near the ship's hull's center, enjoying the reverberation of the engines and fans in the core of your body. You'd been sent there to tighten things up and run a check on all the equipment because Scotty had a lot of faith in you and the overwhelming whirring and nose would not affect you.

Sometimes you had trouble remembering that there was a time when you could hear but when you tried to remember, all the memory sounds that would fill your mind were of shattering glass, electrical wires, and hallowed screams that you could only imagine were your parents'.

You shivered at the thought and continued working.

Bones had also been too busy to talk with you recently and it made you wonder if he was in on Chekov's little plan, whatever it was.

The whole thing was mysterious and, quite frankly, very exciting.

You finished tightening the bolts near the hull's center and gathered your tools, turning to leave. You felt the floor buzzing peacefully beneath your feet. You pressed the button to open the door and when you stepped out, you looked up to see Mr. Spock staring down at you from his towering height.

"My apologies for startling you, Miss (Y/LN)," he asked for you pardon upon seeing that he'd surprised you.

You smiled and signed that it was fine. He seemed to study you, as if you interested him but he didn't look down on you.

"I have come to inform you that you are needed at the Medical Bay." He worded delicately. You gave him a suspicious stare and spied a smile in the corner of his mouth.

Spock escorted you to Bones' office, looking almost…excited? The Vulcan almost seemed to even have a bit of a spring in his step, if you were not mistaken.

Just what was going on?

You didn't know Mr. Spock very well but you got along with him; you'd pay attention when he was instructing you to do something and he seemed to value that very much.

The two of you made it to Bones' office and walked in. Inside, you saw, Chekov, Captain Kirk, Bones, Uhura, and Mr. Scott all standing and waiting for you; they all looked anxious.

"_What's going on?" _you signed. Chekov walked up to you and led you towards Bones who was holding a strange looking head set.

Pavel turned you so that you were looking at him. You gave him a peck on the cheek and he blushed and instantly became very flustered.

"Bones end Mr. Scott end I hev woorked on eh device zat weell gif yoo yoor heering beck." He worded.  
You were stunned.

"_My hearing?"_ you signed.

Scotty smiled and nodded.

"It's a masterpiece!" he said proudly.

Chekov nudged you closer to Bones who fitted the headset on your ears and head.

"Now, don't be too worried if this thing doesn't work. And it'll probably sting." Bones said, after which he pursed his lips together in concentration.

"Ready." Bones worded. Scotty walked over to a small but complex machine that the headset was connected to and looked over his shoulder at you then Chekov. Pavel nodded and Scotty flipped a switch and pressed a few buttons.

Suddenly a surge of power coursed through your head; it hurt a little. You shut your eyes and fisted your hands; you felt someone put their hand on your shoulder in a comforting way but it didn't help much. The pain started to rise in your ears and you felt overwhelmed by dizziness.

Then it was all gone just as quickly as it had come.

You opened your eyes and took a deep gasping breath. Your heart skipped a beat. You could hear yourself breathing.

"(Y/N)?" a voice asked next to you. You turned sharply to see Chekov. You began to tremble and tears came to your eyes.

"Did it work?" another voice questioned and you turned again to see that it was Bones talking.

"Fascinating." Another voice commented and you looked to see that Spock had just answered.

"I ken heer." You said slowly, your voice sounding a bit muffled as you slurred the words together; after all, you hadn't talked for ten years.

"Ё МОЕ!" Chekov exclaimed something in what you guessed to be Russian and he pulled you into an embrace.

You could hear the slight hum of the engines and almost every single little sound graced your sensitive ears like music.

You were shaking as you looked around quietly to see everyone looking relieved and happy. Scotty then hugged you tight.

"Enjoy your new life, lassie!" he whispered in your ear. Bones also hugged you, looking extremely excited for you.

"I'm so glad it worked." He sounded amazed.

The tears began to fall down your cheeks and you looked at everyone.

"Th-Thenk yoo." You said as clearly as you could manage. Captain Kirk smiled.

"It was our pleasure." Bones and Scotty said at the same time.

You turned and kissed Pavel sweetly before you buried your face in his shirt, crying your heart out as you were overwhelmed with the new gift you had been given by these explorers of the night sky.


	5. M5

You traced a finger down Pavel's jaw, smiling at his sleeping face with tired eyes. He had inadvertently spent the night in your room on your bed. Nothing had happened, except that the two of you cuddled on the bed as you watched Old Earth films. The two of you didn't mean to fall asleep; it was an innocent mistake.

You timidly kissed Chekov's cheek then gently laid your head on his chest and listened to him breathe.

You looked at the clock on your nightstand and saw that it was almost time to get to work in engineering but you were reluctant at the thought. You were too busy listening to Pavel's heartbeat to care about getting to work on time.

"Good moorning…" Chekov said in a drowsy tone. It made you gasp as he squirmed and sat up, grinning at you.

"Good merning." You greeted him, still struggling a bit when it came to actually talking.

Chekov looked serene and leaned towards you to kiss you.

After pulling away, he realized what time it was and _where_ exactly he was.

"O-Oh! I em so sorry, (Y/N)!" he exclaimed bashfully, practically leaping from the bed.

You giggled and watched him put his boots on frantically.

"Don't be late fer werk!" you called after him, slurring your words slightly. He ran for the door, stopped and turned, ran to you to place a quick kiss on your lips, then ran out the door hurriedly.

You slid off your bed sleepily and changed from your pajamas and into your Starfleet uniform; you listened contentedly to the ruffle and fold of the fabric of your clothes against your skin as you fiddled with straps and such.

You walked leisurely through the halls towards Engineering, letting the flood of whirring and small talk and the clip-clop of boots on the floors flow into your ears, rather than overwhelmed yourself by resisting the sounds; hearing was very new for you and therefore even the simplest of sounds was fascinating.

Your favorite sound to listen to was that of someone's breathing or their heartbeat.

"There you are, Lassie!" Scotty's voice sounded exasperated as he walked up to you when you opened the door to Engineering.

"I need you to take these," he handed you a few tools and turned you in the direction he wanted you to go.

"And go show those bloody morons down in the weapons docks how to safely repair the lazers before they blow up the whole bloody ship!"

You giggled and nodded, walking swiftly down the hall towards the designated location.

You did as Scotty asked and showed the engineers in the weapons docks how to repair the lazers safely; you showed them kindly, patiently, and efficiently, gaining you respect and a few thanks and smiles.

You made your way back to Scotty who waved you off as he was busy yelling at a few people and that "bloody gremlin" of his.

You stood and waited for him to finish. After a few moments he noticed you still standing there and turned to speak with you.

"Here, take these to the Captain and get his signature. The you can have the rest of the day to yourself, Lassie." He said, putting on a smile at the end of his sentence. He handed you a few papers and a pen and sent you on your way with a pat on your head before he turned back to his latest victims and resumed his angry shouting.

Once on the bridge, you walked up to Captain Kirk and handed him the papers and the pen.

"Scotty wants you to sign these." You said slowly, trying to get all the words right without slurring.

The Captain rolled his eyes then smiled at you, signing the papers quickly. You looked over your shoulder and grinned at Chekov who was casting glances your way. You waved slightly and he did the same. The Captain cleared his throat and you quickly looked at him, blushing in embarrassment.

Captain Kirk smiled amusedly and handed the papers back to you, his very blue eyes twinkling.

"Mr. Sulu, are we in position?" he asked the pilot.

"Yes, Captain. We are stable enough over the M5 planet to beam you and your team down." Hikaru Sulu said, turning to look at Kirk.

"Chekov, get Commander Spock on the bridge." Kirk said, standing and setting a hand on your shoulder.

"(Y/N), I wanted to ask you something," he started. You looked up at him with curiosity.

"Is it okay with you if I take Chekov to the M5 planet on my team?" he asked.

"Uh…" you looked at Chekov then back at the Captain. You didn't want anything to ever happen to him and even though you panicked slightly at the thought, you nodded at Kirk. The Captain smiled.

"Chekov." He said. The young man looked up at his Captain expectantly.

"Yes Keptin?" he wondered.

"Miss Kortul will take your place while you leave with me and the exploration team." He said bluntly and walked off to talk to Commander Spock who had just arrived on the bridge.

"I…what?!" he exclaimed, his face lighting up excitedly.

"Yes Keptin!" he said and leapt to his feet, running to you and hugging you in his excitement. You laughed and hugged him back.

You followed the exploration team, Chekov, Kirk, Uhura, Spock, and Scotty, to the teleportation room where they would be beamed down to the M5 planet below them. Since Mr. Scott was going away, he put you in charge of Engineering along with one of his other finest workers. Everyone stepped on their transports except for Chekov who lingered behind, embracing you. He kissed you, even though everyone was watching, and scampered off to his transport.

"Don't woorry, (Y/N)," Pavel said.

"I'll be beck before yoo know eet." He smiled before everyone disassembled into little beads of light and were gone.

The whole rest of the day, you wandered about, overseeing Engineering down below but everything was in perfect enough order. There wasn't much for you to do without Chekov there. You knew you shouldn't worry but you couldn't help it.

It was when you were walking slowly into your room after dinner that Hikaru Sulu, who was put in charge of the ship while the Captain was gone, called your new communicator.

You opened the device.

"Miss (Y/LN)?" he started.

"Yes?" you answered.

"I thought it best to inform you that the exploration team cannot be found and their communicators are not responding." He didn't sound worried but he did sound apologetic.

"I will tell you if we regain contact with the team as soon as we do."

You dropped the communicator and started to panic. You ran out of your room and hurried to Bones' office. You couldn't think straight.

Once you made it to his office, Bones looked at you confusedly.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked. You ran up to him and buried you face in his shirt and began to cry bitterly.

"What happened?" he asked, rubbing your back in a soothing way.

"Mr. Sulu sed he dusn't know where the exploration teem is!" you sobbed, not caring if you said anything right.

Bones didn't say anything for a long moment.

"I'm sure they're fine, (Y/N)." Bones reassured you, letting you cry all you wanted; his slight southern drawl was soothing.

"Let's just wait and see."


	6. Unconscious

Though it was a huge struggle for you, you stayed strong and kept more to your work than your thoughts; the worry was killing you.

It had already been two days and no contact had been made with the missing exploration team, and the ship's equipment couldn't find them on the most advanced sonar, or even the simplest.

Everyday, as soon as your working hours were completed, you'd make your way to Bones' office to talk or help with his duties; you had also studied nursing in Starfleet, after all.

Bones ranted at you about the things that were wrong with the world, or space, or the universe, and you were content just to listen; it helped to relieve some of your own stress, actually.

Mr. Sulu, now the temporary Captain, had said he would not risk losing more people by sending out a search party. He decided that the only thing to do was to fly over the whole of the planet, at a slower speed, so that the scanning instruments could have more time to scan for the team and whatever else may be on the new world. The waiting was nerve-wracking and only caused your anxiety to grow.

Another long day of waiting passed and you tried your best to work diligently in Engineering; everything was ship-shape.

You ate alone that night. It was full of silence you wished you didn't have to listen to; when you were deaf, you were blanketed in silence and it was comforting and peaceful, but now that you could hear every little sound, you had to _listen _to quiet and the interruptions in its wavering waves. _This _silence was restless and subject to change.

After an hour alone, you couldn't stand the quiet anymore and walked swiftly out of the dining hall towards the medical bay to find Bones. He was inside of his office, slumped over his desk; he was fast asleep. You smiled and shook him awake, leading him, still half asleep, to his quarters where you helped him into bed, ignoring his protests about still having paperwork to fill out and patients to see.

"Can I stay with you?" you asked, slowly and carefully so that the doctor could understand you.

"Yehmnshurmmm…" he mumbled something incoherently. You took that as consent and climbed into his bed, curled up under the covers, and laid your head on McCoy's chest to listen to his heartbeat until you were able to fall asleep.

Bones mumbled another couple of unclear words and instinctively wrapped an arm around you before promptly falling asleep, the gentle rising and falling of his chest lulling you.

For hours you laid like that; calm, thoughtful, and silent as you listened to your best friend and protector sleep. You never grew tired of listening to his heartbeat because it filled the restless quiet with something interesting and beautiful, in its own way.

You flicked your (E/C) eyes towards the clock on the end table. _1:54am_.

You sighed quietly, interested by the sound before realizing that it was your own voice.

Suddenly a chirping sound shattered the peaceful silence, and Bones mumbled in his sleep. The chirping sound repeated. This time, McCoy sat up abruptly, startling you. He first rubbed his eyes, then looked at you, confused. His brow furrowed in wonder, but he was distracted by the sound of the chirping, which came once more into yours and his hearing.

He snatched up his communicator from the nightstand and opened it. "What,," he stated more than asked in a voice full of exhaustion and annoyance.

"Dr. McCoy, you're needed in the transport chamber," a voice said. Bones grumbled a reply and quickly got out of bed, and you followed swiftly behind, not knowing what to expect.

"What were you doing in my bed, (Y/N)?" McCoy questioned you as the two of you walked with haste to the transport chamber.

"I wuz lonely," you said, looking up at him. "I ask furst," you added, speaking too fast to check your own grammar and tenses; you looked at him innocently, wondering if you did something wrong. Bones didn't look like he _remembered _you asking but he _did_ look as if he believed you.

"Hurry," he said in a gruff tone, remembering the task at hand as he started running. You followed his lead, becoming anxious.

Once you both made it to the transport chamber, you stopped dead in your tracks, staring at the transport platforms. The exploration team had been beamed up. Though Mr. Scott, Uhura, and Spock were all coming to, blinking slowly and sitting up, Captain Kirk and Pavel Chekov never stirred, lying on the ground, hardly breathing.

You ran frantically to Chekov, seeing blood trickling down from his temple. His face was pale and his chest only just rose and fell, proving that he was still breathing, if only a little.

"Wake!" you said in a panicked voice. You shook him a little.

"Be awake!" you shouted when he didn't respond. The tears came streaming down your face and you panted with worry. You listened for his heartbeat, which was faint, and began to shake him again.

"Calm down, (Y/N)!" Bones called, pulling you away from Chekov's body.

"Make hem be awake!" you commanded in a sob.

Bones kneeled to your level and grabbed your shoulders, looking you sternly in the eye.

"I need you to calm down first," he said. "I need you to help me take him to the Medical Bay," he instructed slowly.

"I need a stretcher. Can you get me one?" he asked. You were still breathing fast and you quickly looked at Pavel, then at Bones. You nodded.

McCoy let go of you and you ran as quickly as you possibly could to the Medical Bay, rolling a stretcher as fast as possible to the transporter chamber. A million images and thoughts ran through your mind the whole time, only fueling your adrenaline rush even more.

Once you returned, you helped strap Chekov in and followed Bones, who was wheeling an unconscious Kirk in front of you, to the Medical Bay.

The adrenaline was gone, the excitement had died down. Spock was now in charge of the Enterprise and the crew, at least until Kirk woke up, and Scotty had gotten right back to work in Engineering.

You sat with your head on Pavel's chest, listening to his fluttering heartbeat as you waited for him to wake. Your eyes were half open, and you were exhausted. You clung to the young man and strained not to fall asleep. You wished he would wake up. At least Bones had determined that his head wound wasn't too serious, and he should wake up any day.

You didn't want to fall asleep. Your body was tired and resigned, and your eyes closed against your will. "Some rest will do you good." Bones said softly, kissing your temple before you were pulled, kicking and screaming mentally, into slumber.


	7. Language Lesson

You devoted every moment of every day to the young Russian ensign, since Scotty had been kind and understanding enough to give you every day off until everything was sorted out. Most nights you fell asleep at Chekov's bedside and Bones would wake you and escort you to your room; eventually you convinced him to let you sleep in his room. You were too anxious to fall asleep by yourself and without Pavel to guide you, being able to hear was becoming quite a burden; it was a bit frightening as well.

"Bones?" you said, hoping he was awake. He rolled over and squinted his eyes at you.

"Mmwhat?" he mumbled, trying his best to be awake enough to answer questions.

"Will he evur wake up?" you asked; it had already been one week and six days and you had counted every minute of every hour of every day since Chekov had arrived on the transportation deck, unconscious.

There was a thoughtful silence. McCoy leaned forward and kissed your forehead.

"Don' worry," he said quietly. "Get some sleep," he finished. You nodded and grasped his hand in both of yours and curled up, falling very slowly into sleep, never noticing the way Dr. McCoy watched you sleep before he as well slept.

You woke, sleep heavy on your eyelids, and you were sprawled out, stretching your body. You opened your eyes slowly to see that McCoy was already awake and had left for the Medical Bay. You pulled off your nightshirt and scratched your stomach, yawing in your drowsiness.

Bones walked in looking excited, and then startled when he saw you shirtless. You drew the covers up and stared at him with wide eyes.

"(Y/N)," he started before grabbing your shirt off the chair at his desk and walking over to the bed and sitting down.

To your surprise, he pulled off the blanket and slipped your shirt on hurriedly, never batting an eye at what he was doing; his hands lingered a short moment on your waist, just above the brim of your sweats, before he stood, dragging you by your hand.

"Wh-What going on?" you asked, tumbling as you followed him out of the room.

"Pavel and Jim woke up," he said, looking at you excitedly. You were suddenly completely awake and ended up dragging him along instead as you took off in a run, barefoot on the cold floor.

You stopped in the doorway of the Medical Bay and stared with disbelief at Chekov, who was sitting up and looking around. His blue eyes met yours and your gazes held for a moment before your eyes welled up with happy tears.

Bones nudged you forward and you ran to Pavel, wrapping your arms around his neck firmly as if when you let go, he would disappear. You sobbed uncontrollably with relief into his shoulder and he rubbed your back soothingly.

"Eet's okey...Eet's okey…" he breathed into your hair quietly until you were able to calm down.

You pulled away, still sniffling, and looked at Chekov.

"Heello," he started, a boyish grin spreading on his face. You smiled back as he wiped your tears away. "Hi."

"Why were yoo crying?" he asked, stroking your (H/C) hair and looking a bit tired and serene, after you seated yourself on the side of his bed.

"Cuz I'n heppy. I missed you." you said, your breath still catching a bit in your throat from your recent hysteria. "I were worried wen you not wake up."

"Weel, I feel okey now. Yoo don't hef to woorry anymoore," he said, and placed a light kiss on your lips and you blushed. Finally, _finally_, your ensign had woken up.

"Remember what knocked you out?" Bones asked hopefully. Pavel adopted a thoughtful look for a moment, absently continuing to stroke your hair.

"Eeeh...no, soorry. I don't reemember leefing ze Enterprise eether," he said finally.

"Same with Jim..." Bones sighed. "Spock and Uhura weren't close enough at the time to see what happened."

"(Y/N), you should probably take him to his room. He's well enough to walk," Dr. McCoy informed you, smiling at you. "Keep an eye on him tonight and tell me if you need anything."

He turned to Chekov. "Now, don't do anything strenuous, or you'll end up back here and it won't be pleasant," he warned with a stern look.

You and Pavel nodded enthusiastically.

"'Kay...now get outta here," he said jokingly. You and Chekov laughed and you helped him up and the both of you exited the room; you didn't notice the last uncontrollably jealous glance your way from Bones as you left.

'_Good fer you, kid,' _Bones thought, trying his hardest to lock those newfound feelings for you away, turning back to his work: his distractions. _'Good fer you.'_

Once you and Chekov made it into his room, he plopped down on his bed and you sat on the edge quietly.

"Cud you heer me?" you asked after a moment. "When you sleeped?"

"Some of ze time, yes. I em wery grateful zat yoo looked efter me." Chekov smiled. "And I em wery soorry eef I caused yoo eny pain."

"It's okay," you grinned, kissing his cheek. He held your hand and chuckled a little.

"I hef en idea," he started, looking excited. You grew curious.

"What is it?" you asked. Pavel scooted further into the bed, giving you more room to cross your legs, which you did, and you faced him, holding his hands.

"Repeet efter me: Privet." he began, looking at you expectantly.

"Privet?" You wondered if you were saying it right.

"Yes, good," he said. "Now sey: Menya zovut…"

"Menia zowvoota…" you said, unsure of what exactly you were saying. "Right?"

"Eeeh...almost. eet's: Menya zovut," he said a bit slower so you could understand him.

"Men...ya…zovoot." You succeeded at saying the two words. "Good!" he said, smiling widely.

"Now, sey eet all toogether: Privet, menya zovut (Y/N)," he instructed, rubbing his thumbs on the backs of your hands softly. You closed your eyes and concentrated.

"Priveet, menyan zonvoont," you said in all seriousness. You opened your eyes to see Chekov looking very amused. "Ehehee, close," he said with a small chuckle. You blushed in your embarrassment and covered your face.

"Is too hard. I'm embarrassed," you said. "No, no eet's okey! You can do zis!" Pavel pleaded, pulling your hands down from your face to look into your eyes.

"Jest try again," Chekov said in a reassuring way. "Yoo'll get eet." He patted your head affectionately.

"Privet, menya...zo...vut…(Y/N)?" you said, a questioning note in the last word. "Yes! Yes! Yoo deed eet!" he exclaimed in his jubilation. He pulled you into a kiss that lasted a few moments before he shuddered and laid back.

"Are you okey?" you asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. My heed just hurts a leetle," he said with a kind smile. You sighed quietly and laid your head down on his chest, curling up next to him in the bed.

"What I say?" you asked after a moment of listening to his steady breathing. "In Russian?"

"Yoo sed: Heello, my neme eez (Y/N)," he explained. "Oh," you replied, smiling to yourself. You leaned further into his chest and grasped his shirt as you relished in his warmth and the sound of his beating heart. You felt him place a gentle kiss on your head before laying back against his pillow as the two of you sat in a peaceful and comfortable silence.


	8. Remember

You woke, groggy and slow, in your bed and yawned, a bit dazed by a strange dream you'd just escaped from but couldn't quite seem to remember. You only knew it had been strange, as the strands of its memory faded fast.

Chekov had recovered fantastically over two weeks of close watching, on your part, yet neither he nor the Captain could recall the events of the M5 planet they were rendered unconscious on.

You slipped out of your bed and leisurely clothed yourself in your uniform before you walked with a spring in your step down the halls towards Engineering; thoughts of Chekhov flitted about in your mind, causing a dumb but unavoidable grin to spread on your face.

"'Ello, Lassie," Scotty greeted once you made your way to your station, beside him; actually, your station was anywhere _he_ was; he just so happened to be lying on his back, fixing some equipment at the moment.

"(Y/N), I need you to cut the two red wires on the left there, and then the second blue wire to the right, next to the cooler there," Mr. Scott instructed, handing you a pair of scissors after you slipped on your rubber gloves. You smiled in thanks and set to do as you were told.

"So, how's the young Ensign?" the scotsman began conversing, although he was fully concentrating on his own work, he was only trying to be polite; you noticed that he was only ever really polite to _you_.

"Gud," you replied, carefully cutting the first red wire. "I meaned 'good'," you corrected yourself, embarrassed.

"Uh, 'meant'..." You were losing focus and your work as you became flustered.

"Steady, (Y/N)." Scotty set a hand on your arm when he saw that you were about to cut the wrong wire. "I knew what you meant."

You cut the correct wire, blushing in your embarrassment.

"'Twas more adorable the first time you said it…" Scotty mumbled to himself, making you giggle.

The next few hours of engineering flew by quickly and Scotty, finding no further work for you, dismissed you to the Medical Bay to volunteer there, seeing as how you were proficient in both nursing _and _engineering.

You walked into the Medical Bay and, upon finding that the blue shirt Bones usually reserved for you when you volunteered was gone, you timidly changed into one of doctor McCoy's blue shirts and set off to find him.

"...'im two cc's of anesthetics." Bones' voice flowed into your sensitive ears and you found him talking to a nurse who busily nodded and then walked off to do as the doctor prescribed.

"Bones," you started, acquiring his attention easily. "I here to help-I mean, 'I'm' here to help," you corrected yourself.

"Is that my shirt?" Bones asked, a smile tickling the corner of his mouth.

"Y-yes, I couldn't find my," you said. "I mean 'mine'."

"I knew what you meant," McCoy chuckled.

He saw that the sleeves were too long for your arms and the whole article of clothing looked as if a blanket had been draped across your body.

Bones leaned down and began to roll your sleeves up and tie the excess fabric in a knot at one corner of the shirt until it fit you better. "There ya go," he said quietly, lingering for a moment before he forced himself to stand and guide you to the patients he had for you to work with.

After a couple hours more of working, Bones sent you to the bridge to collect blood samples from the crew for tests.

You walked with the same dumb grin as earlier that morning; you were looking forward to seeing Chekov.

The doors to the bridge slid open and you made your way through the science deck, acquiring blood samples from Mr. Spock as well as Ms. Uhura.

The Captain winked at you before you took his blood and you smiled good-naturedly at him. Finally you made your way to Pavel, who grinned when he looked up and saw you.

"Heello," he said quietly, rolling up his sleeve to give your needle easier access to his veins. You blushed and took a blood sample; the two of you were aware that most of the crew was not-so-secretly watching you interact.

You quickly snuck a hug with your ensign and in the midst of the embrace, you accidentally stuck him in the head with the needle. Chekov cried out and shuddered. You were confused, the needle had barely scratched him.

"I...I'm sorry!" you apologized, setting a hand on his shoulder. He didn't stop shaking and his eyes were closed shut.

You pulled out your communicator and called Bones.

"Mm?" he grunted.

You explained the situation as best you could, remembering to stay calm and make sure you told the doctor every detail. The crew around looked worried, and Captain Kirk was standing beside you, anxiously looking at the trembling Russian. "What's going on?" Kirk asked.

"I mey have hit nerve," you said, no longer caring about getting your words straight.

"N-No, I reemember now!" he groaned. Bones came running onto the bridge and made his way to Chekov.

"I reemember what heppened!" he repeated.

"It seems as though pain triggered Ensign Chekov's suppressed memories. Perhaps the same method would work on the Captain." The calculating and logical voice of Spock pushed into the conversation. Bones quickly, seeing as how Kirk was attempting to escape, pulled the syringe out of your hand and scraped mercilessly across his forehead, careful not to make the injury too deep. Doctor McCoy looked very pleased indeed with himself.

"Aaaaug! Bones!" Kirk exclaimed, his hand flying to the cut in his forehead before he began to tumble backwards as if he were suddenly dizzy. Bones made sure he didn't fall over and Kirk, after a moment, began to babble "I-I think I remember too...".

"Fascinating," Spock commented quietly.

"What do you remember?" you asked slowly, letting out a sigh of relief when Pavel stopped shuddering.

"I reemember steam...end then there was a veery loud noise...end…"

"Klingons." Captain Kirk finished Chekov's sentence.

"Mr. Sulu, set us in course back to the M5 planet, in exactly the same place we beamed down before," Kirk ordered, turning back to face Spock and Bones.

"Yes, sir." Sulu's voice rung from behind as he did as he was told.

"Spock, and Uhura will come with me again and Bones-"

"Take (Y/N) with you," Bones interrupted. You stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Eet's not safe!" Chekov protested.

"Yeah, well, she can hear now, and she's a capable Nurse _and_ Engineer," McCoy argued.

"You prepared to come?" Kirk asked you.

You thought as hard as you could in the short amount of time you had to decide. You looked at Pavel then nodded back at the Captain.

"Yes, sir."

Lights swirled around you, and for a moment, you couldn't see. You felt Chekov reach out and touch your arm, and your vision cleared. You had all been beamed down to the planet only after an hour of preparation. You no longer wore your Enterprise uniform, and neither did anyone else, because the Captain did not wish to start a war with the Klingons if one could be avoided.

"Are yoo okey?" Pavel asked, looking at you worriedly when you put a hand to your head.

"Yeah," you replied, smiling. This was exciting, but slightly terrifying at the same time.

"Let's go," Kirk said and began to walk north.

The team walked for hours in apparently the same direction they had before they had lost contact. Every hour, Mr. Sulu made sure their comm's still worked.

You walked, hand-in-hand with Chekov, at first hesitant, thinking it wouldn't be professional, until Kirk said "no, it's fine. It's cute."

Blue trees dotted the horizon and all of you walked through a valley of long purple-hued grass that hid anyone walking through it from others, except for creatures and things that could fly. At first the sounds all around you overwhelmed you; you couldn't remember ever hearing anything like it. What you could only guess were birds cawed and called overhead and a sort of buzzing entered your hyperactive ears. You could hear, what you had been told, the sound of water far off from where you were walking, and most of all you could hear and feel the wind rustling through the grass. You shed a few tears at the beauty of it all. You were hearing nature, a feat that you could only dream about in the past.

The bugs were strange but comfortably docile, as they did not bite or become any sort of annoyance whatsoever. Spock argued with Kirk, when he wasn't talking logic, among other things, with Uhura, and you and Chekov talked of the family and life that Pavel had left in Russia when he became the youngest Ensign in Starfleet history. You loved to listen to his voice, that adorable accent making you blush, and the enthusiasm in his tone enthralling you.

Finally, night fell and the team set up camp. Uhura set up the ten-person-tent, that was deceivingly small on the outside, and everyone gathered inside. There were separations in the tent, enough for ten people, of course, but Kirk had taken advantage of your gullibility and told you "since Spock and Uhura are sharing a room, and I'm sleeping alone, you'll have to room with Chekov, I guess…" and, thinking that since he was the Captain and that he would not lie to you-in other words, because of your complete lack of knowledge of his personality-you believed him wholeheartedly and did as he said.

Pavel jumped when you entered his portion of the tent but made no protest and made no move to send you away.

You grinned at him and laid next to him, setting your head on his stomach to listen to the interesting noises of his digestive tract-whether it truly _was_ interesting or not, you didn't know, for you weren't actually paying attention to it-and slowly you began to drift to sleep, feeling the covers being pulled over your body and his and a rumbling from his chest as he began to hum a lullaby that lulled you to the darkness behind your tired eyelids.


	9. Sacrifice

Chekov's stomach rose and fell in a peaceful rhythm. You slowly opened your (E/C) eyes, still drowsy, and relished in the sound of Pavel's heartbeat in your ear. Your head still rested on his chest and his arms da, at some point in the night, draped over your shoulders. You looked towards the tent door and your heart jumped within you in surprise.

A head was peeking in. You stared for a moment until your eyes were in focus.

It was a little Klingon boy's head; his curious light brown eyes stared jovially at you.

You didn't know whether you should have been afraid or amused at the sight. He was only a child.

You slid your hand slowly out from under the cover of yours and Chekov's blanket and waved at the boy. He grinned a hearty and sharp toothed grin and stumbled into your tent compartment.

"nuqneH." he said in an adorably small and raspy voice, waving in return.

You smiled nervously and sat up, waking Chekov as his arms slid off of you. Scooting towards the tent wall, you said "Nyota, dere's a Klingon boy in here."

Suddenly you heard someone loudly and frantically scurry out of the room next to yours, followed by a slower and much quieter scuttling.

"Eeeh...heello." Chekov greeted the Klingon boy, who had made it all the way up to you and Chekov.

Uhura burst through the tent flap, followed by a groggy looking Spock, and stared at the boy, who'd whipped around from the sudden sound; Kirk tiredly peeked his head in as well, looking just as befuddled as everyone else.

Uhura cleared her throat, walked towards you-the boy, in his fright, had grasped onto you and hidden his face on your shoulder-and kneeled, setting a kind hand on the boy's shoulder.

"nuqneH," she started in Klingon. The boy timidly turned around, sitting in your lap; you sat, feeling strangely motherly, with the child in your arms while sitting between Chekov's legs awkwardly. Pavel smiled down at the boy over your shoulder and you blushed; he was so adorable.

"nuq 'oH ponglIj'e'?" Uhura asked.

"Joh." the boy replied with a bright smile.

"His name is Joh." Uhura informed you all.

"How'd he get in here?" Kirk questioned, inching closer to Joh and you; the Captain yawned.

"nuqDaq DaDab?" Uhura continued, ignoring the Captain. Joh smiled at Kirk, who yawned again, and pointed at him saying "tlhaQ!", a jolly laugh following.

"What'd he say?" Kirk asked, confused.

"He says you're funny, Captain." she informed him, smiling.

"Oh yeah?" Kirk directed at the boy with a mock stern face.

"Joh," Nyota got the boy's attention again.

"nuqDaq DaDab?"

"pa' ngaSwI' Human jatlh wej tu'lu'." He shrugged.

"He said he can't tell humans where he's from." Uhura said.

"luj?" she continued.

"Qo'." Joh shrugged again.

"Dochmey DanoHmeH naDev yIn Hoch Heghpu' DaH." he added.

"Apparently the original species of the planet have gone extinct." she announced. Your brow furrowed.

"How long ago?" Spock asked; Joh began batting at Chekov's arm, after he draped it over your shoulder tiredly.

"ghorgh Hegh chaH?"

"couple wen."

Uhura gasped.

"What'd he say?" Kirk questioned. "He said that they died a few months ago." she said.

"The Klingons must have enacted some sort of genocide on the former population in hopes to acquire this planet as their own." Spock said thoughtfully. "Where exactly did the attack take place, Captain?" he asked, turning towards Kirk.

"Uhh…" Kirk put a hand to his head and closed his eyes. "...I remember some sort of...temple? I don't know. Chekhov?" he turned towards the young ensign.

"Eeh...I think I saw a temple as well, Keptin." Chekov answered, unsure.

"tu'lu' chIrgh naDev close to?" Uhura questioned Joh.

"HIja'! SoH laH vItlhap pa'!" Joh exclaimed, jumping out of your lap and running out of the tent, Uhura calling after him. Joh stopped and turned around, a boyish grin spreading across his interesting face.

"He says he can take us to a temple near here, Captain." Uhura said.

"Let's get our gear together and head out." Kirk decided, leaving your tent compartment.

Once everyone had left to change out of their pajamas, and the door was zipped closed, Chekov leaned away and got up, setting up a separator between the two of you before the both of you began to change clothes. Both of you were silent, while a mutual desire to peek around the meager separator itched at both of your minds; but both of you were too shy and Chekov was too much of a gentleman to adhere to his hormonal desires.

The tent was quickly compacted and the journey began once again. Chekov, reached for your hand and took it gently, drawing you nearer to him; he seemed worried and you certainly didn't mind the closeness. Joh stopped and argued with Kirk, refusing to lead the group anywhere until Uhura explained that Joh wished to sit on the Captain's shoulders instead of walking. Kirk begrudgingly complied and _then _the journey began.

Joh directed the team with points and untranslated exclamations and after a few hours of walking and exploring, for Joh was very easily distracted, the temple was finally within view.

Chekov stopped walking at the sight of it and his grip on your hand tightened; he looked distressed and couldn't pull his gaze from the old looking temple.

Captain Kirk stopped walking as well, looking a bit startled.

"Eet's not safe…" Pavel mumbled. You looked up at him but he didn't notice; his grip was hurting your hand but you didn't really mind.

"Not safe…" Kirk echoed.

"The sound." Chekov added with a chill. "What sound?" you asked in your confusion.

"Ensign Chekov and the Captain seem to be experiencing memories of their past exploits in the temple. We must have found the place of their attack." Spock said coolly, attempting a mind-meld with the Captain. Spock then took an involuntary step back and tilted his head in confusion, panting a little; Joh patted Kirk's head and leaned forward to look at him, upside down, with a childish intrigue.

"What's wrong?" Uhura asked worriedly. It felt as if Chekov was going to break your hand; you almost couldn't bear it.

"They're in shock." you said through gritted teeth as you tore your hand away from Pavel, who hardly noticed.

"The Captain...is experiencing great fear. I can only assume that whatever is in the temple caused him a great deal of pain." Spock said. Uhura attempted to steady him. Joh kept saying "loD boneH? loD boneH?" to the unresponsive Kirk.

You quickly threw down your pack and rummaged through it until you found your hypospray which you quickly injected into the Captain first and then Chekov. Almost at once they reacted, letting out cries of pain and annoyance.

"Aaaaaug! Don't_ do_ that!" Kirk practically hissed at you; Bones had told you many times how the Captain would react to hypo injections.

"You were in shock." you explained, proud of yourself for finally being able enough to form complete and correct sentences.

Chekov groaned and you watched him warily, making sure no side-effects had been got by him, or the Captain either for that matter; the hypo had been filled with a concentrated chamomile injection, so there shouldn't have been any side-effects. And probably for the first time in Kirk's life, there wasn't one. He was fine; and so was Pavel.

"In shock?" Pavel groaned in confusion.

"When you looked at the temple, you both stopped walking and all you could do was stare and mumble." Uhura clarified

Captain Kirk looked at the temple once more; this time he gazed at it for a moment before looking confused.

"I...don't remember anything." he said. Chekov confirmed this as well for himself.

"wItI'nISmo'!" Joh proclaimed in excitement.

"What would you have us do?" Spock asked, awaiting Kirk's answer patiently. You shoved your things back into your pack and slipped it back onto your shoulders, grabbing Chekov's hand again, which he readily accepted.

"Let's find out what's in that temple." the Captain ordered with a shrug, starting off towards the temple, only subconsciously worried about what they might find within it.

After another half of an hour of quick walking through the tall grass clearing, the team made it to the temple and stared into its blackened maw in wonder and awe.

"Stey close too mee." Chekov said in a hushed tone as everyone took a bold step into the temple's mouth and proceeded with caution; you nodded and held his arm, very afraid of what might jump out from the dark.

Joh talked, though not as much as before. Kirk assured him that there was nothing to be afraid of. From the light of the flashlights you could make out strange etchings in the sand colored walls and bizarrely shaped jewels embedded into the echo inducing floors where everyone's booted feet went _clop, clip, clop. _

"Captain, how far do you wish to venture?" Spock asked after a while of listening to nothing but Joh's raspy voice and the clip-clopping of everyone's footsteps.

"As far as we can go." the Captain Answered.

You all walked, and walked, and walked, until the monotony of the whole present expedition almost drove the lot of you insane.

Suddenly, flames ignited and you dropped your flashlight in surprise. Joh laughed and Chekov held you protectively against him. Light flashed and suddenly you all were aware that you'd found a room that looked fit for royalty. Gold streaks on pearl tile-like walls flowed down to the ivory floor, a ruby pedestal in the center of the room with a massive machine sitting atop it.

Chekov loosened his grip on your shoulder and relaxed. Everyone slowly took the whole scene in.

Suddenly Joh leapt from Kirk's shoulders and dashed towards the ruby pedestal, bewitched by the shiny silver metal of the machine. "HablI'! HablI'!" he called out in his enthrallment.

"Joh, come back!" Spock called uncharacteristically worriedly after the child just as he realized what the machine was. Everyone ran after the child but it was too late. Joh had made it to the machine and started to fiddle with the buttons and levers on it until a ear-splitting noise began emitted from the contraption.

Joh, very surprised by the machine, back-stepped off the pedestal to be caught by Kirk who shoved him, giving him a running start, towards the entrance; Joh ran off with tears in his eyes and his hands over his ears.

You looked around, ears in a constant ring, watching those of your team attempting to shut out the noise of the machine. Nothing could be heard over the shrill frequency and you felt your head begin to pound.

You saw Kirk trying to tend to Uhura and Spock before they all fell to their knees, covering their ears. Spock then aided the Captain and his love by giving them the Vulcan pinch, instantly causing them to pass out of their painful misery before he too drifted, straining and convulsing, into unconsciousness.

Frantically you ran towards Chekhov, who had only made it halfway to you before he'd collapsed still mouthing your name desperately. You screamed his name but even your own voice couldn't be heard over the noise; you couldn't even feel the buzz of your voice in your chest.

Blood trickled from Chekov's closing eyes and you began to panic.

Your vision was blurring and you realized that this noise must have been what was interfering with the Enterprise's equipment; Scotty wasn't going to be able to beam the lot of you up. You knew that running out of the temple to make contact with the Enterprise would take far too long.

Without another thought, you ran towards the ruby pillar, feeling blood trickle from your ears and your eyes, and began to climb as fast as you could. You sobbed with the uncontrollable pain you were receiving and just as you made it to the machine, you felt something in your ears burst and blood gush out. You screamed and fell to your hands and knees.

The pain brought back memories of the electrical fire that had killed your parents; the pain that this sound caused resembled the pain from that time in your past. Lights flashed in your mind's eye and you saw memories you never knew you had. You saw two people, that you could only assume to be your parents, but most of all you saw the agony in their faces as they tried to protect you.

It took all your strength to pull yourself up and pull the fateful lever that Joh had used to activate the machine back into its original place. The sound was gone and you fell back, the last of your strength to move gone. Off the pedestal you fell, quickly, and just before you hit the ground next to Chekov, you felt the familiar drone of the transporter beam as you and the rest of the group were beamed up.

Only a ringing in your ears could be heard by you as you remained awake and now laying on the transportation deck next to your ensign; you were not yet free of your suffering. You shook and writhed in pain, knowing full well that you were going into shock. Bones' worried face came into view but whatever he was trying to say was left unheard by you and you could only respond with gasps for air, your eyes fluttering in an attempt to expel the blood that wouldn't stop coming from them.

Bones picked you up in one scoop of his arms and ran for the Medical Bay, holding you tight.

"Hold on, kid! Hold on!" you could see him wording as he rushed. You were eerily calm by now, still unable to keep your body from convulsing, and you turned your head to look at Chekov who still lay on the transporter deck, reaching for you before his hand fell limply to the ground as unconsciousness claimed him once again. You murmured his name once more before feeling yourself being placed on a table. You looked up at Bones, the ringing beginning to fade in your aching ears, and smiled involuntarily as tears still fell, mixed in the blood. You felt light, so light; the ringing got quieter, and quieter, and quieter...


	10. Silence

Your eyes fluttered open and you found yourself choking for air. You tore at the tube that was down your throat as your body thrashed in panic.

Someone held you down and pulled the tube out of your throat and mouth, allowing you to cough and gasp for air, sitting up abruptly.

"Calm down, kid!"

Your wild eyes saw Doctor McCoy speaking, but to your horror, you did not _hear_ him.

You panted hard and attempted to push the doctor away, trying desperately to hear something. Your eyes flicked here and there, blurring everything you saw, and your sudden movements caused you to feel nauseous and dizzy. Something else wasn't right. You couldn't see correctly. This only made you panic even more.

You were pushed down and a shrill pinch plagued the side of your neck before all became woozy and you stared dumbly at the lights above your head as they swirled and danced…

You woke again, embodying your previous fighting spirit and sitting up; this time it didn't leave any after effects. You looked around slowly, trying to locate Bones, who you found to be sleeping in the corner.

"_Bones,"_ you tried to say but you only felt the buzz of your voice in your chest. You heard nothing. A bit of panic began to rise inside of you, but you did your best to remain calm and look around some more when McCoy didn't stir.

Chekov was asleep, his bandaged head laying on the side of the medical bay bed that you were laying on; his hand was entwined with yours. Your eyesight was still strange and your left eye seemed to be blocked; you couldn't see out of it.

As calmly as you could manage, you rubbed each eye in its turn, not wanting to draw your other hand away from Chekov, and blinked a few times. You still couldn't see out of your left eye.

Your lips trembled and tears came to your eyes. You laid back down quietly and refused to sob aloud, though you could no longer hold back the tears. You felt the buzz of the engines through the bed but you heard nothing. Blind in one eye, and once more, _deaf_.

You trembled and closed your eyes, only for the memories of what had passed to flash in your mind's eye. Your eyes flicked open and you drew a sharp breath. You didn't want to be brave anymore, you didn't want to be satisfied and for the first time in a long while, you felt selfish and discontented with your life.

Why'd this have to happen to you? Had you done something wrong? You tried to save your friends, and this is what you got for it! Ten years, already, of being deaf! And you'd only just recovered! Why couldn't it have been someone else?! Why you? Why _you_?!

"_Fuck!" _you swore quietly, cursing again in your mind when you only felt the word's vibration in your chest.

But looking at Bones sleeping there in a chair at your bedside, exhausted and strained, and knowing that he had done everything in his power to take care of you, protect you, and save you from your almost untimely demise; you could find no anger when looking at him.

And watching Chekov, loyally residing at your bedside until the exhaustion of his own wounds, seeming not to matter to him at all, had cast him into slumber as well; you knew he was devoted to you, completely. You felt suddenly ashamed of your selfishness and discontentment, no matter how much you knew you deserved to feel that way. A life full of woe and pity for one's self was not worth the amount of apathy that was sure to come, and drive loved ones away with its dull poison.

You sobbed now, feeling lost, lonely, and scared; insecure in your new, yet familiar silence.

Bones leapt up from his chair and, rubbing his eyes, he checked your vitals; you couldn't stop crying. He kissed your forehead and held your other hand gently, trying to calm you.

Chekov started and mechanically sat up and checked to see if you were awake-apparently he had been doing this day and night, for a whole week-and upon finding that you were crying, his sleepy gaze grew worried and he mouthed "Eet's okey, Eet's okey! Yoo're okey!"

_"I can't hear you!" _youtore your hands away from the two of them and signed, shaking with sobs.

"_I can't hear you!" _

Chekov looked confused; he didn't know very much sign language. Looking towards Bones for help he apparently discovered what you had said, and he looked panicked.

"Yoo can feex eet, right?" he asked frantically; you lusted to hear Chekov's voice, that adorably accented tone of his. Bones looked sternly at you then at Pavel; you watched his mouth as closely as you could as you cried.

"The sound caused her eardrums to burst and to dislocate. Also her left eye has been damaged. I can get her sight back, but there's nothing I can do for her hearing."

Chekov looked horrified.

'_She doosn't deeserve thees!' _he thought angrily but he found the strength to smile at you, tears of his own now streaking down his face.

"Doon't woorry, (Y/N)," he started, his warm breath on your hand, as he looked down to hide his face, calming you. Your breaths came in ragged gasps and you closed your half-working eyes. You felt broken, but relieved at the same time.

Your hearing may be gone, again, but your eyesight could be improved by McCoy; you had complete faith in him.

Yet, there was something you just could not expel from your mind: the frightened faces of your parents. It was disturbing and every little glimpse you received was sickening.

Eventually you had calmed enough to breathe normally; you felt Chekov shaking, his tears wetting your hand. With a dull gaze you watched him cry, at a loss for what to do. While Bones scanned your vitals again, and did some other "doctor stuff", you pulled your hand away from Chekov and ran your fingers in his golden brown curls; you managed to display a small grin. He relaxed.

Bones had evidently started talking, for Pavel looked up at him.

Pavel nodded and kissed your hand before you felt Bones inject you with a hypo and everything blurred before it all turned to black.

A week after your procedure, you could see perfectly; you were thankful to Bones for that. Scotty, the Captain, Spock, and Uhura had come to visit you a few days before.

"The machine that we discovered in the temple was a frequency beam: one of the last surviving sound weapons that Starfleet have since outlawed. The beam must have survived a fall out of a Starship," Spock had explained.

Kirk had thanked you for your sacrifice and announced that instead of making a trip back to Earth, where he was planning to place you back in the academy-where he had previously thought you belonged-he allowed you a job on the Enterprise as Scotty's official assistant in engineering. This news had brought a lively glow to your face and you thanked him for the job heartily.

A few days later and you were well enough for Chekov to escort you to your room, where it would be his turn to watch over you and protect you. Bones made sure you knew that you could always call, no matter the hour of the day, if you needed anything at all.

Pavel carried your fragile body-now fragile from laying in the medical bay for a few weeks-to your room and once inside, he set you gently onto your bed and under the covers.

You watched him talk, a serene smile on your face

"...I em soorry foor what heppened. I coolden't get to too soon enough," he said solemnly. You shook your head and placed a hand on his cheek; oh, how you wished you could hear his voice; but you would have to leave that to your imagination, only to remember what he sounded like.

_"Not your fault," _you signed. Then you were surprised when he stopped talking and kissed you. Pulling back, he made sure you could see his mouth and he slowly and quietly whispered "I love yoo."

You blushed and embraced him, whispering to the best of your ability, "I love you too."

Everything was calm and silent; you didn't hear a thing and frankly, you didn't care; you liked it that way, now. It made you peaceful; and he made you feel safe.

Fin.

**A/N: Hope you liked the story, dear readers! I loved writing this one :) If any ideas for any other stories come to mind, be sure to tell me, and also I'd like to try my hand at taking requests, as long as it's not smut or slash. Thanks again!**


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